


seapup

by wearing_tearing



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Dark Fantasy, M/M, Merperson Bucky Barnes, Merperson Steve Rogers, Sea Monsters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 20:17:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13795509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearing_tearing/pseuds/wearing_tearing
Summary: There are a lot of monsters down in the deep dark sea, Steve included. But he is not prey and he is not about to let himself be eaten.





	seapup

**Author's Note:**

  * For [obsessivereader](https://archiveofourown.org/users/obsessivereader/gifts).



> a deal was struck ~
> 
> you can also read gerry's part of the bargain: [the blood is the life](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13858971)! it's a wonderful story with vampire bucky and jealous steve :'D 
> 
> rated m for talks of murder and people as food, not mermaid sexy times!

Steve swims, blue tail cutting through the water as he makes his way home to Bucky. His muscles ache after a day spent dragging sailors to the bottom of the sea, but he proudly holds on to his bounty of fresh meat and shiny jewels. He can’t wait to show them to Bucky, to adorn him with gifts and lick the blood off his lips after they eat.

Steve is so distracted by his own eagerness that he almost misses the disturbance in the water. He doesn’t stop swimming when he feels new ripples come from his left, rolling off his shoulders and against his fins, warning him that he’s not alone. He does change course, veering abruptly to the right and then down, hand searching for the sharpened shell he keeps strapped around his waist. Whoever, or _whatever_ , is behind him turns to follow, adjusting its path whenever Steve tries to shake them off.

Steve bares his sharp teeth.

There are a lot of monsters down in the deep dark sea, Steve included. But he is not prey and he is not about to let himself be eaten.

With a snarl, Steve drops his bounty and swirls around, his weapon in hand, ready to gut whoever threatens him and bring another slice of meat to Bucky. But when Steve turns to face his enemy, he is not attacked.

A sea serpent stares at Steve, its tail swishing from side to side, keeping itself afloat. The serpent is small, probably a hatchling that has been separated from its family, with black scales covering its body and silver fins framing its face. It looks about as frightening as a clump of seaweed, but Steve has seen how big they can get and the damage their teeth can cause.

“Go home,” Steve tells the serpent, leaning down to gather his bounty, “before someone eats you.”

The serpent flicks its tongue, eyes focused on Steve, and swims a bit closer.

Steve points in the direction they came from. “That way.”

The serpent moves again, closer instead of away, its head tilting to the side as if unsure what Steve means. Steve presses his lips together, annoyance dampening his good mood from earlier.

“Go. _Now_ ,” Steve hisses, all sharp teeth and cutting words. " _Leave_."

Instead of being scared, the serpent just bares its teeth at Steve in return, almost like it’s smiling. It’s charming, almost, in the way deadly beings can be.

“I’m leaving,” Steve tells the serpent. “Do not follow me.”

The serpent tilts its head to the other side, as if considering. Steve doesn’t linger to see what conclusion the serpent comes to. He has more important things to worry about, like getting home to Bucky.

Steve dashes off again, circling back to his usual path back to the cave he and Bucky share. He sticks to the cold currents that lead him home, careful not to disturb any sleeping krakens or veer too far into adaro territory.

It is when he is halfway home that Steve feels it again.

Steve narrows his eyes and glances over his shoulder, eyes adjusting to darkness that bleeds into the water this far down beneath the sea. There, near the reefs, Steve can see it: the soft glint of a silver fin and the quick flick of black scales.

“I told you to go away,” Steve says, and then scowls when the serpent swims up to him, stopping just short of arms reach. “Go back to your family.”

The serpent, to Steve’s surprise, shakes its head from side to side.

Steve glares at it. “I’m not taking you home with me.”

The serpent curls a little bit on itself, fins now flat against its skull.

“No,” Steve says again, although his heart clenches a bit in his chest. It almost as if the serpent has wrapped itself around it and squeezed. “I’m leaving now.”

The serpent ducks its head and lowers its eyes to the ground. It looks as pathetic as Steve has ever seen a sea serpent look: not at all. Yet the sight still pulls at something inside of Steve, tugging at his heart strings and chipping at whatever resolve he might have left.

“I just want you to know,” Steve warns the serpent, “that when Bucky tries to turn you into food, I’m not going to stop him.”

The serpent flicks its tongue out again, which Steve takes as agreement. When he starts on his way home again, he doesn’t have to glance back to know the serpent is following.

 

**

 

“Bucky?” Steve calls when they reach the cave, tired muscles relaxing now that he is finally at home. The serpent dashes behind Steve and hides between two small rocks. Steve figures he can deal with it later. Right now, he misses Bucky. “I’ve brought you gifts.”

“Gifts?” Bucky’s voice floats through the shadows and wraps itself around Steve’s heart. “What kind of gifts?”

“Come here and see.”

Steve’s breath hitches when he sees Bucky, just like it always does. Bucky’s tail glints as he moves to meet Steve, deep red like blood spilling into the water. The color matches the rubies braided through Bucky’s hair, gold strings carefully woven between the strands, holding it all together. There’s a golden band wrapped around his left bicep, a present from Steve a few months before, which covers the still-healing scars Bucky won after slaughtering a hydra.

“Hi,” Steve murmurs, dropping his bounty on top of a rock in favor of using his hands to bring Bucky closer.

“Hello.” Bucky smiles, tracing Steve’s jaw with his fingers at the same time their tails curl around each other. “Did you bring me good things?”

Steve squeezes Bucky’s waist. “I always bring you good things,” he says, leaning in and brushing their lips together. “You are mine to spoil.”

Bucky laughs, a low sound that sends a shiver down Steve’s spine. “And I am yours to love,” he adds. “Tell me, sweetheart, how many hearts did you bring me tonight?”

“One heart for every year we’ve been together,” Steve answers, placing a kiss to the edge of Bucky’s jaw. “And an extra one, for the years to come.”

“I love you,” Bucky says against Steve’s cheek. “I miss hunting with you.”

Steve makes a hurt little sound in the back of his throat, fingers trailing up Bucky’s arm and feeling at the raised scars there. He misses it too. There is nothing quite like the thrill of the hunt when you are killing with someone you love.

“Soon,” Steve promises against Bucky’s mouth. “Soon.”

Bucky nips at Steve’s bottom lip, breaking the skin, before he swoops in for a slow and deep kiss. The blood is sweet and only serves to spur Steve on, his hands greedy as he slides them through Bucky’s hair, rubies biting at the skin of his palms.

“I love you,” Steve murmurs in between kisses, chasing the taste of himself on Bucky’s lips.

“I love you too,” Bucky replies, breaking the kiss so he can rest their foreheads together. His eyes are bright and clear when he stares down at Steve. “Now, tell me about my other gifts.”

“New gems for you hair,” Steve starts, marking each statement with a kiss. “A few strings of pearls. Rings. A sparkly tiara.”

Bucky snorts, eyes crinkling in the corners. “A tiara?”

“Yes. You deserve a crown.”

“Such flattery,” Bucky notes, kissing Steve once more. “It might even get you something.”

Steve pulls Bucky closer, their chests pressed together. “I already have everything I’ve ever wanted.”

Bucky hums, nails raking up and down Steve’s back, and steals another kiss. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“What?”

“A gift,” Bucky says, eyebrow raised.

Steve frowns a little, but soon gets distracted by the way Bucky’s lip curve like he’s amused. “No?” he says, dropping a kiss to the corner of Bucky’s mouth.

“Oh, yes?” Bucky asks. “Then what is a sea serpent doing in our home?”

Steve tenses under Bucky’s hands, having momentarily forgotten about  the serpent when faced with everything that is Bucky. Now that he remembers, he glances around the cave and finds the serpent swimming just above his left shoulder. It’s staring at Bucky with open curiosity, it’s eyes following every turn of Bucky’s head and swish of his tail.

“It followed me here,” Steve explains, shoulders slumping. “I couldn’t get it to go back to its family.”

Not that Steve tried very hard.

Not that Bucky needs to know.

Bucky lets go of Steve, rising up to meet the serpent. Steve watches them watch one another, Bucky’s unflinching gaze meeting the serpent’s curious one. They are both predators measuring each other’s strength, although Steve is sure that, in a fight between them, Bucky would come out as the winner.

Bucky reaches a hand up, palm open and welcoming, and waits. The serpent stares at him for another beat and then bumps Bucky’s palm with its head, right before it slithers up and curls around Bucky’s skin, its head resting right on top of the golden band on Bucky’s left arm.

Bucky smiles down at the serpent and pets its fins, looking way too pleased with himself. “We are each other’s now, to love and protect,” he says, all fondness and pride.

“We’re keeping it?” Steve asks in surprise, but he knows Bucky can hear the hope in his words.

“ _Illys_ ,” Bucky corrects him. “That is their name.”

“Illys,” Steve repeats, and then smiles when the serpent lifts their head up and glances at him. “Are you sure?” Steve watches in fascination as both Bucky and Illys nod at him, and then he says, “We are going to need a bigger home.”

“We will.” Bucky grins, sharp and full of promise. “Illys will grow and so will her hunger.”

Steve curls his tail around Bucky’s, heart beating rapidly in his chest. “We will need a lot of hearts.”

“The sea will provide,” Bucky says as he leans against Steve’s side. “And if it doesn’t, we will make our own fun. We have always been good at killing, you and I.”

Steve kisses Bucky’s shoulder, the side of his neck, his temple. “Yes,” he agrees, hiding a smile against Bucky’s hair, “that we have.”

“Thank you for my gifts.” Bucky angles his head so he can give Steve a kiss, soft and sweet. “Now let's go eat.”

Steve grabs his bounty, the hearts pressing against the net he used to gather them, and lets Bucky drag him further into the cave. Behind them, on the rocks, blood flows through the water.

**Author's Note:**

> based on the prompt: A puppy follows Steve home, and Steve can't bear to part with it.
> 
> on [tumblr](http://hawkguyz.tumblr.com/post/171268457081/seapup) :D


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